What truly elevates this idea from contributing editor Cathe Holden is the 3-D stitching that makes these graphics pop. (Just check out the close-up at right.) Create a masterpiece from your own sack, or nab a vintage one from eBay for about $10.

Step 1: Use a seam ripper to open the bag along the seams, so you're left with a flat piece of fabric. Hand-wash, and press with an iron.

Step 3: Center your bag on a blank canvas board—choose a board that allows for at least two inches of the bag's fabric to wrap around all sides (from $4.69 for 9"W x 12"H; cheapjoes.com). Apply Shurtape double-sided carpet tape to the board's side and back edges ($4.98; 1⅜"W x 42'L; lowes.com).

Step 4: Tightly wrap the bag around the board, pressing it firmly against the tape; then trim away any excess fabric along the back. Add picture-hanging hardware to the back of the board (if desired) and display.

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Alison Gootee/Studio D

Découpage Trays

These DIY trays recall the wares of artist John Derian—only ours cost just a few bucks a pop.

Step 1: Download the image of your choice (originally from thegraphicsfairy.com) here. Each image is presized to fit the glass trays shown here (narrow, $8.46; 6"W x 12"L; wide, $9.25; 8"W x 11"L; behrenbergglass.com). Use a laser printer to print out the image, at home or at a copy shop.

Step 2: Flip your tray upside down. Spray with glass cleaner and wipe down to remove any fingerprints or residue. With a sponge brush, spread a layer of Mod Podge over the tray's back side ($5.99 for 8 oz.; plaidonline.com). Place your image, right side down, atop the Mod Podge, then quickly flip the tray right side up and gently center the image. Smooth the paper against the glass, then place the tray wrong side down again. With a clean wine cork, roll out any air bubbles until the paper fully molds to the glass. Let dry 30 minutes.

Step 3: Use Mod Podge to adhere a plain white piece of paper atop and flush against the back of the image. Let dry 30 minutes.

Step 4: Cut away any excess paper around the tray edges with a craft knife. Then, seal the white piece of paper with another layer of Mod Podge. Let dry 30 minutes.

Step 5: Following the instructions of Speedball's three-part gold-leaf kit, apply adhesive, gold leaf, and sealer to the tray's back side; then trace around the edges of the tray with a gold-paint marker (Composition Gold Leaf Kit, $10.97; Krylon leafing pen, $6.55; dickblick.com). Let dry.

Step 6: Use your tray to gather trinkets, or mount it, as we did here, with a plate hanger.

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Ellen Silverman

Decorative Plates

Antique-shop plates can decorate a wall when embellished with word decals, spelling out a favorite quotation.

For a delicate stenciled effect, take a digital snapshot of a Royal Copenhagen Blue Fluted Mega plate. After enlarging the pattern by several hundred percent, print the designs on standard printer paper and cut them out. To determine the best arrangement, tape the patterns to the wall with tiny pieces of tape. Then apply wallpaper paste to the backs of the designs and attach them to the wall.

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Burcu Avsar

Paper Quilt Art

Make the bride-to-be a gift she can have forever with this DIY paper quilt. Write messages on paper before making it so she can have a thoughtful and personal piece of art.

To make, select four different patterned papers; cut 20 two-inch squares from three of them and 21 two-inch squares from the fourth (the extra square will serve as the center of your quilt). Following our pattern template, adhere the squares to an 18-inch-square illustration board using a glue stick. Then, pop the quilt in a frame to show off your handiwork (similar 20-inch-square frame, $47.82; salinepictureframe.com).

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Alison Gootee/Studio D

String-Art Trophies

Begin by painting a blank basswood plaque with two coats of semigloss, allowing one hour of drying time between coats (from left: Valspar paint in Schooner, Mystified, and Montpelier Wedgewood, $2.98 for 8 oz.; lowes.com). Let dry overnight.

Step 2: Center the shape on your plaque and tape it down. Following the marks indicated on the template, hammer 3/4-inch brass nails 1/4 inch deep into the plaque (you'll need between 50 and 80 nails for each animal); then tear away the paper.

Step 3: Double-knot the loose end of a spool of 0.035-inch waxed cord ($5.97 for 210 feet; mainethread.com) to the bottommost nail. Working clockwise, stretch the cord to the next nail, loop around once, and pull taut; repeat for all nails to form the animal's outline. After you return to the initial nail, continue stretching and looping, working across and diagonally at random points, to fill the outlined shape. Once you are satisfied with your critter, tie a double knot to the nearest nail and cut the cord.

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Burcu Avsar

Patterned-Paper Clock

Patterned paper is all you need to overhaul a wall clock (for similar, DecoMates, $29.47; 11 3/4" diam.; amazon.com). This man-in-the-moon clip art is free from thegraphicsfairy.com—just download, resize as necessary, and print. We also put wallpaper samples to work (gray birds, $7; 21" square; trustworth.com. Blue floral, $9; 11"W x 27"L; growhousegrow.com). Use a screwdriver to pop off the clock's backing and battery, then lift out the face. Gently remove the hands, nut, and washer with pliers. Set aside all parts, noting their order for reassembly. Trace the shape of the clock face onto your wallpaper or printed art, then cut out the circle. Center the paper atop the face, patterned side facing out, and secure with double-sided tape. Use a T-pin to poke a hole through the paper for the clock hands; reassemble all parts and hang.

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Eline Pellinkhof

Cross-Stitch Wall Art

Swap a needle and thread for a brush and paint to re-create this oversize riff on an embroidered rose, by Dutch artist Eline Pellinkhof. Don't worry: You won't have to freehand it. Pellinkhof sells the basic cross-stitch stencil for $20 at bypetra.nl. And we've adapted her painting guide—divided into 16 sections, each the same size as the stencil—to make things even easier.

Step 1: Using a pencil, mark the spot on your wall where you'd like to center the design. Draw two 54-inch lines—one vertical and one horizontal—that intersect with the mark at their midpoints. (These are the blue lines noted on our guide.)

Step 2: We recommend numbering and lettering the stencil's edges with a Sharpie, as indicated here. To replicate section I on the guide, align the stencil so that its right side is flush against the uppermost portion of your vertical line. Attach the stencil to your wall with painter's tape and use a pencil to lightly trace crosses in each box where paint is called for; then pencil in the corresponding initials for each box's paint color in the center of the cross.

Step 3: Move the stencil to the other sections indicated by our guide and continue lightly marking crosses and initials.

Step 4: Working one color at a time, and using a ¼-inch flat brush, paint all crosses in the corresponding shade indicated by our key. Let paint dry for 24 hours, then carefully erase any visible pencil lines.

Step 1: For each of your prints, select an embroidery hoop that's slightly larger than the photo: a seven-inch-diameter hoop for a 3x5; a nine-inch-diameter hoop for a 4x6 (for similar hoops, from $2.09 for 7" diam.; createforless.com).

Step 3: Center your photo atop the mounted fabric and secure in place with small pieces of Scotch tape along all four sides. Working 1/8 inch out from the photo, use a ruler and a water-soluble marker (Dritz marking pen, $4.99; joann.com) to draw a 1/2-inch-by-1/2-inch "L" shape around each corner.

Step 4: Using black satin thread, and working from the ends of each "L" to its corner, stitch from side to side, within the lines, to create a triangle. Take care not to sew through your photo.

Step 5: Remove the tape. If any pen marks are visible, wipe them away with a damp cotton swab. Trim any excess fabric at the back of the hoop. Repeat to make a wall's worth of memories.

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